Underground conduit



June 3, 1930. G. M. GEST 1,761,075 v UNDERGROUND coNDuIT l Filed'Aug. l1, 1925 WITNS n 'y v 4 E.;

- f f ff ATTORNEYS Patented June 3, 1930 GUION M. GEST, F NOROTON, CONNETICUT uNnEnenoUND coNDUrr Application tiled August 11, 1925. Serial No. 49,551.

This linventionrelates more esphcially to an improved underground conduit construction which may be built up continuously of inexpensive materials for any required distance and by means of unskilled labor.

The general object of my 'inventionl is to l provide an improved underground conduit construction Iof this character which shall have the following advantages. 1 V1. The ducts or pi es included inthe structure may be made o structurally weak material, such, for example, as indurated wood fiber which possesses many advantages for work of this character.

2. The construction work involves the setting-up and arrangement of relatively lightweight parts of slmple construction which require no refined adjustments of complicated parts. I

3. The structurally weak ducts or pipes may be permanently located and {irmly anchored in loose dirt or other material coniined between the walls of a trench or other con- 'ming walls.

4. The superimposed continuous slab of self-hardening material which is hardened in postion on top of the built-up structure constitutes a protective reenforcement which unites the parts and binds them into a unitary whole.

5. .The only operations ,involved are of a simple nature and may be carried on by unskilled labor.

The most important condition governing the kind of pipe and the method in which it is laid, is a matter of expense, as ini some locations the question of putt-ing the wires underground rather than Stringing them on poles overhead, rests entirely upon whether the conduits canbe cheap, due' consideration being always had of course to the permanency of the work. Conduit pipe made of indurated wood fiber possesses many advantages for this work. It is insulating, non-inductive, non-corrodable and easily handled and worked, and is cheap. v

It has been used extensively, but to get the most `satisfactory result shas generally had to be embedded in a block of concrete, and.

furnished suiciently4 this makes it too expensive for many locations.

One of the objects of my invention is'to provide an improved underground 'conduit construction by means of which ducts or ipes made of structurally weak material may e built up in successive tiers within an ,excavated trench or between the laterallyspaced walls of any suitable passagewa by means of supporting and s acin b ocks which are arranged transverselyrwit respect to said trench, or passageway and below, above, and between said successive tiers of said ducts or pipes.

One of the s cie objects of my invention is to rovi e an improved built-up construction or underground conduits comprising successive tiers of ducts or pipes arranged betweenthe laterally-spaced walls of a trench or passageway and positioned by suitable duct-supports arranged transversely at longitudinally-spaced intervals along said trench or passageway. Said duct-positionin su ports preferably comprise duct-spacin loc s arranged below, intermediatel to, an above the ducts. Said ducts 'an duct-spacing blocks may be bedded in lwith loose dirt or other suitable material up to ,a surface approximately including the axes of the uppermost ducts or pipes which may then be covered with a superimposed layer of self-hardening material hardened in osition upon said surface and extendin etween' the laterallyspaced walls of sai trench or assageway.

Other and further objects o my invention reside in certain features of construction recited in the appended claims.

The drawings show an embodiment of my invention. In these drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of one f orm of a four pipe construction in process of building.

Figure same.v

Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. e f

Figure 4 shows a wooden spacing block used asa reinforcement of a pipe joint.

According to the embodiment of my invenv tion vShown on the drawings, a bottom series 100 2 is a longitudinal section of the of 'supporting and spacing blocks 2 are arranged transversely at intervals along the door of a trench and between the side-walls l thereof. It desired, a supporting and alifming plank or slab 3 may oe interposed etween the blocks 2 and the bottom of said trench or passageway. Mounted upon the bottom series of supporting and s acing blocks 2 and seated within upward y-presented notches formed therein are the ducts or pipes 4 of a bottom tier,v the adjoining ends of these ducts or pipes being connected together by means of sleeves 5. interposed -between the bottom tier of pipes or ducts and the tier of pipes or ducts thereabove, are intermediate spacing blocks tprovided with notches adapting them to interlock with both of said tiers of pipes or ducts. As shown in Figure 2, a bed 6 of loose dirt or other suitable material has been tamped in around the pipes or ducts up to a level which approximately includes the axes'of the pipes or ducts in the upper tier, after which self-hardening material h as been deposited upon this surface as well 'as' upon the upper walls of the pipes or ducts in the upper tier to sutiicient depth to embed the upper edges of the uppermost tier of spacing blocks. lThere 1s thus formed a continuous bridging slab which unites and supports the transverse supports and pipes or ducts without creating any undue strains in the latter. ln eiiect. this construction provides a unita ry bridge-like structure within which the pipes or ducts are firmlysupported without being subjected to any stresses or strains other than those due to the cables extending therethrough.

If the supporting and spacing blocks 2 are cast in place, the wooden or metal forms may be made to support the pipes in their proper relation, or the holes may be made by removable forms. If the blocks are manufactured outside the trench they may be either made in one piece or in two or more pieces, the joining surfaces corresponding with the middle ofthe ducts as shown by the line 10 or` both. When cast in place the top or bottom slab may be formed at the same time and thus form an integral monolith. It will beobvious that wood or other material may be used to form the supporting and spacing blocks. In Figure 4 is shown a supporting block made of two layers of planks, the grain of the wood of one layer lying across the grain of another layer. The construction shown may be used with any kind of -pipe conduit but it is particularly adapted to fiber conduit or conduits which are not in themselves suliciently rugged to maintain their alignment with supporting means.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that an underground conduit construction which i s built up according to the method contemplated by the present invention, can be produced of any'desired length byunslled labor and with a minimum cohsumption of relatively inexpensive materials.

After the ducts have been laid in lace the spaces between the ducts and the locks is filled with loose material 6 such as sand or earth and this material may be packed around the ducts without danger of displacing them, owing to the rigid manner in which the ducts are held b ythe supporting and spacing blocks.

- li claim l. ln an underground conduit construction, the combination with a plurality of longitudinally-spaced transversely arranged duct-positioning supports, of ducts mounted in and positioned by said duct-positioning supports, and a continuous slab of self-hardening material hardened in position on the upper surfaces of said ducts and extending across and having the upper edges of said duct-positioning supports embedded therein. y

2. In an underground conduit construction, the combination with a plurality of ducts, of duct-spacingr blocks arranged at .longitudinally-spacedintervals below, between, and above said ducts, and a continuous top slab of selft-hardening plastic material common to and formed'around the upper .edges of the previously positioned uppermost duct-spacing blocks. v

3. In an underground conduit construction. the combination with a plurality of ducts, of transverse duct-positioning supports for spacing said ducts laterally and vertically, said transverse duct-positioning supports being arranged at longitudinally-spaced intervals along said ducts, a filler of loose material arranged around said ducts and between said transverse duct-positioning supports. said ller having its upper surface depressed with respect to the'upper edges of said transverse duct-positioning supports, and a continuous top slab of self-hardening plastic material formed in position on the upper surface of said filler and extending above said ducts across and around the upper edges of said transverse duct-positioning supports.

4. In an underground conduit construction, the combination with ducts or pipes arranged in vertically-spaced tiers within a trench and between the laterally space'd walls thereof, of duct-spacing blocks arranged below the lowermost tier of ducts, intermediately between successive tiers of saidvducts and above the uppermost tier of ducts. alilling of material interposed between and ldisposed around said ducts or pipes to a surface intersecting the uppermost tier of said ducts, and a continuous slab of superimposed selfhardening material hardened in position upon the ,upper surface of said filling and upper tier of ducts or pipes, said slab extending across the space between said laterallyspaced walls and enveloping the upwardlypresented edges of the uppermost duct-spacing blocks,

5. In an underground conduitconstruction, the combination with a longitudinallyspaced series of transversely-arranged ductspacing blocks, provided withV upwardly-presented notches, of ducts seated in said notches, other ducts mounted above the firstmcntioned ducts, intermediate duct-spacing blocksarranged between the first-mentioned and secondfmentioned ducts, a top series of longitudinally-spaced transversely-arranged duct-spacing blocks in engagement with the second-mentioned ducts, and a continuous integral mass of structurally competent material extending across said top series of longitudinally spaced transversely arranged duct-spacing blocks, the upper edges of the last-mentioned blocks being embedded in the structurally-competent material and portions of'said continuous integralfmass of material being conformed tothe upper outer walls of the second-mentioned ducts.

6. An underground conduit construction comprising a plurality of bottom duct-spacing blocks provided With upwardly-presented notches, said bottom duct-spacing blocks being arranged transversely to said underground conduitconstruction and spaced 1ongitudinally with respect thereto, lower ducts seated in said notches and held thereby against relative laterall displacement, lower intermediate duct-spacing blocks provided with downwardly-presented notches interengaging with said lower ducts, upper intermediate duct-spacing blocks provided with upwardly-presented notches, upper ducts seated in the notches in said upper intermediate duct-spacing blocks, top duct-spacing blocks provided with downwardly-presented notches intcrengaging with said upper ducts, and a continuous integral mass of structurally competent material extending across said top duct-spacing blocks and having the upper edges of said top duct-spacing blocks embedded therein.

7. In an underground conduit construction, the combination with a plurality of longitudinally spaced transversely arranged duct-positioning supports, of ducts supported and positioned by said duct-positioningy I supports, and a continuous integral sla within which the upper edges of said ductpositioning supports are embedded. v

8. In an underground conduit construction adapted to be built up within a trench, the combination with a'plurality of longitudinally-spaced transversely-arranged ductpo sitioning. supports comprising bottom, intermediate and upper duct-spacing blocks, of a mass of loose material filling each of the spaces extending around said ducts between successive. duct-posltio'nlng supports, said masses of loose material being confined between the lateral `rzalls of said trench, and acontinuous'integral mass of structurally competent material hardened 1n positlon across turally competent material.

9. In an underground conduit construe` tion, the combination with duct-positioning supports, of ducts carried by said duct-positioning supports, said duct-positioning supports. including spacing blocks transversely arranged with respect to and interlocking with said ducts for preventing-lateral displacement thereof, and a continuous slab of self-hardening material hardened in position above said ducts and across and around the up er edges of said duct-positioning supports or rigidly locating said ducts.

l0. In lan underground conduit construction, the combination of duct-positionin supports transversely arranged along sai( conduit construction, said duct-positioning supports including duct-spacing blocks provided With upwardly-presented notches, and other duct-spacing blocks transversely arranged and provided with downwardly-presented notches, ducts arranged between the first-mentioned and the second-mentioned duct-spacing blocks, said ducts being held against relative lateral displacement by the notches in said blocks, and a continuous sla-b of self-hardening material hardened in position above said ducts and with the upper edges of the second-mentoned duct-spacing blocks embedded therein.

GUIN M. GEST. 

